Melolagnia: Janet Jackson

     Revisiting this memory has always been easy. I can remember the hot Michigan humidity and the smell of melted plastic coming from the backseat of Mom's station wagon so vividly.  To this day, whenever I hear the Fender Rhodes play on the intro to Janet Jackson's, "Funny How Time Flies", I return to being seven-years-old. The soft whimpering that laced Janet's French monologue, filled my mind with very dirty thoughts.
     My imagination escaped from me for the first time. Visualizations of writhing naked bodies and gender-neutral orgies swirled in my pre-pubescent mind. From the perspective of a child, the song quickly registered to me as sensual and sweetly painful. Hearing her moaning for him to stop, I remember asking myself, "Hurting can be good?" Who would've thought I'd spend my life discovering the answer to that question.

This is why I blame Janet Jackson for being the freak I am today.

     In her endeavors, she has managed to merge the mainstream with fetish. She graces magazine covers wearing rubber suits. She talked to Oprah about the pleasures of nipple piercings. She appeared in a hip-hop video draped in cock rings. She visited MTV's "Total Request Live" and unveiled her song "Would You Mind?" The teens cheered as they heard the lyrics, "I just want to love you/ suck you / make you cum, too."

Who else has this kind of license?

For those who prefer their aphrodisiacs audio,

I urge you to gather these down-tempo, lust grooves.

"Funny How Time Flies"

"Someday is Tonight"

"Anytime, Any Place"

"Anything"

"China Love"

"Would You Mind?"

"Moist"

"Warmth"

"Take Care"

"Discipline"